Systems and methods for reducing digital video latency

ABSTRACT

Examples of the systems and methods described herein relate to reducing latency issues associated with playing online digital video on client devices. An example method includes: determining that a client device of a user is displaying a web page; determining a likelihood that the user will select content on the web page, the content being associated with a digital video; determining that the likelihood exceeds a threshold and, based thereon: identifying the digital video associated with the content; obtaining a copy of a video file including the digital video and an initial portion that precedes the digital video; initiating a video player for displaying the digital video; determining a start location in the video file where the initial portion ends and the digital video begins; and configuring the video player to begin playing the video file from the start location when the user selects the content.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/943,375 filed on Apr. 2, 2018. U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/943,375 filed on Apr. 2, 2018, claims the benefit of priority to U.S.Provisional Application No. 62/479,456 filed on Mar. 31, 2017, and is aContinuation-in-part of Ser. No. 15/341,888 (now U.S. Pat. No.10,728,612), filed Nov. 2, 2016, which claims the benefit of priority toU.S. Provisional Application No. 62/298,570 filed on Feb. 23, 2016 andU.S. Provisional Application No. 62/298,602 filed on Feb. 23, 2016 andU.S. Provisional Application No. 62/249,861 filed on Nov. 2, 2015. Thecontents of each of the foregoing are hereby incorporated by referenceinto this application as if set forth herein in full.

BACKGROUND

This specification relates to online digital video and, in particular,to systems and methods for reducing latency issues associated withproviding online digital video.

Viewers of online digital video often experience significant latencyissues when digital videos are selected for viewing. After an onlinedigital video is selected, for example, it can be several seconds (e.g.,5, 10, or 20 seconds) or more before the video begins playing on theuser's computer or other client device. Some sources for the latencyissues include poor Internet connections, inefficient identification orretrieval of video content, and/or improper functioning of digital videoplayers. The end result is a system that requires users to wait aconsiderable length of time before online digital videos are initiatedand ready for playing. Such delays can frustrate users and result insignificant reductions in online digital video consumption.

There is a need for systems and methods that reduce latency issuesassociated with online digital video content.

The foregoing discussion, including the description of motivations forsome embodiments of the invention, is intended to assist the reader inunderstanding the present disclosure, is not admitted to be prior art,and does not in any way limit the scope of any of the claims.

SUMMARY

Examples of the systems and methods described herein result in moreefficient initiation and presentation of online digital video content.In some embodiments, the systems and methods can be used to predict alikelihood that a user will select online content associated with adigital video. When the likelihood exceeds a threshold, the systems andmethods can take steps to identify and prepare the digital video contentfor viewing on the user's client device, before the user selects theonline content. By taking such steps, the digital video can be ready forimmediate display, once the content is selected. The end result is amore efficient and enjoyable digital video experience for the user.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a computer-implementedmethod of reducing digital video latency, is provided. The methodincludes determining that a client device of a user is displaying a webpage; determining a likelihood that the user will select content on theweb page, the content being associated with a digital video; anddetermining that the likelihood exceeds a threshold and, based thereon,performing at least one of the following steps before the user selectsthe content: initiating a mediation process to identify the digitalvideo associated with the content; unwrapping a video tag associatedwith the digital video; storing at least a portion of the digital videoon the client device; stitching the digital video together with a seconddigital video; and initializing a video player for displaying thedigital video on the client device.

In some embodiments, determining the likelihood includes predicting atime at which the content will be accessible to the user. In someembodiments, the likelihood is determined based on a viewing history ofthe user, a viewing history of other users, a duration of the user'sInternet session, and/or an Internet browser history. In someembodiments, the content is selectable by clicking the link, tapping thelink, and/or viewing the content.

In some embodiments, the method includes initiating the mediationprocess to identify the digital video before the user selects thecontent. In some embodiments, the method includes unwrapping the videotag associated with the digital video before the user selects thecontent. In some embodiments, the method includes storing at least theportion of the digital video on the client device before the userselects the content. In some embodiments, the method includes stitchingthe digital video together with the second digital video before the userselects the content. In some embodiments, the method includesinitializing the video player for displaying the digital video on theclient device before the user selects the content.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a system isprovided. The system includes a client device of a user. The clientdevice includes data processing apparatus programmed to performoperations for reducing digital video latency. The operations includedetermining that the client device of the user is displaying a web page;determining a likelihood that the user will select content on the webpage, the content being associated with a digital video; and determiningthat the likelihood exceeds a threshold and, based thereon, performingat least one of the following steps before the user selects the content:initiating a mediation process to identify the digital video associatedwith the content; unwrapping a video tag associated with the digitalvideo; storing at least a portion of the digital video on the clientdevice; stitching the digital video together with a second digitalvideo; and initializing a video player for displaying the digital videoon the client device.

In some embodiments, determining the likelihood includes predicting atime at which the content will be accessible to the user. In someembodiments, the likelihood is determined based on a viewing history ofthe user, a viewing history of other users, a duration of the user'sInternet session, and/or an Internet browser history. In someembodiments, the content is selectable by clicking the link, tapping thelink, and/or viewing the content.

In some embodiments, the operations include initiating the mediationprocess to identify the digital video before the user selects thecontent. In some embodiments, the operations include unwrapping thevideo tag associated with the digital video before the user selects thecontent. In some embodiments, the operations include storing at leastthe portion of the digital video on the client device before the userselects the content. In some embodiments, the operations includestitching the digital video together with the second digital videobefore the user selects the content. In some embodiments, the operationsinclude initializing the video player for displaying the digital videoon the client device before the user selects the content.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a non-transitorycomputer storage medium having instructions stored thereon is provided.When executed by data processing apparatus, the instructions cause thedata processing apparatus to perform operations for reducing digitalvideo latency. The operations include determining that a client deviceof a user is displaying a web page; determining a likelihood that theuser will select content on the web page, the content being associatedwith a digital video; and determining that the likelihood exceeds athreshold and, based thereon, performing at least one of the followingsteps before the user selects the content: initiating a mediationprocess to identify the digital video associated with the content;unwrapping a video tag associated with the digital video; storing atleast a portion of the digital video on the client device; stitching thedigital video together with a second digital video; and initializing avideo player for displaying the digital video on the client device.

In some embodiments, determining the likelihood includes predicting atime at which the content will be accessible to the user. In someembodiments, the likelihood is determined based on a viewing history ofthe user, a viewing history of other users, a duration of the user'sInternet session, and/or an Internet browser history. In someembodiments, the content is selectable by clicking the link, tapping thelink, and/or viewing the content.

Elements of embodiments or examples described with respect to a givenaspect of the invention can be used in various embodiments or examplesof another aspect of the invention. For example, it is contemplated thatfeatures of dependent claims depending from one independent claim can beused in apparatus, systems, and/or methods of any of the otherindependent claims.

The details of one or more embodiments of the subject matter describedin this specification are set forth in the accompanying drawings and thedescription below. Other features, aspects, and advantages of thesubject matter will become apparent from the description, the drawings,and the claims.

The foregoing Summary, including the description of advantages of someembodiments, is intended to assist the reader in understanding thepresent disclosure, and does not in any way limit the scope of any ofthe claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic data flow diagram of an example method for viewingonline digital video.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an example video accelerator thatincludes multiple modules for reducing latency associated with onlinedigital video, in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an example web page having contentassociated with a digital video, in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of an example method for reducing or eliminatinglatency issues associated with online digital video, in accordance withsome embodiments.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of an example system including a videoaccelerator for reducing latency associated with online digital video,according to some embodiments.

FIG. 6 is a schematic data flow diagram of an example method for usingthe system of FIG. 5 to reduce latency associated with online digitalvideo, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 7 is a schematic timeline diagram of a video file having an initialportion and a digital video portion, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of an example method for reducing or eliminatinglatency issues associated with online digital video, according to someembodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

It is contemplated that apparatus, systems, and methods embodying thesubject matter described herein encompass variations and adaptationsdeveloped using information from the examples described herein.Adaptation and/or modification of the apparatus, systems, and methodsdescribed herein may be performed by those of ordinary skill in therelevant art.

Throughout the description, where apparatus and systems are described ashaving, including, or comprising specific components, or where processesand methods are described as having, including, or comprising specificsteps, it is contemplated that, additionally, there are apparatus andsystems of the present invention that consist essentially of, or consistof, the recited components, and that there are processes and methodsaccording to the present invention that consist essentially of, orconsist of, the recited processing steps.

FIG. 1 is a data flow diagram of an example method 10 for providing(e.g., obtaining and displaying) a video on a client device. The method10 is performed by a client device 12, which communicates with a serversystem 14 and a video server 16. The client device 12 includes or uses avideo player 18 to display online video content on the client device 12.The video player 18 can be stored and/or executed on the client device12. Alternatively or additionally, the video player 18 can be storedand/or executed external to the client device 12, such as on the serversystem 14 and/or on the video server 16.

To display a video on the client device 12, the client device 12 cansend (step 20) a request for content to the server system 14. Therequest can be sent in response to certain activity by a user of theclient device 12. For example, the user can open a web browser orapplication on the client device 12 and request online content. Therequest can be or include, for example, an address for a web page thatthe user is attempting to access. After receiving the request, theserver system 14, can send (step 22) web page or other online content(e.g., in the form of an HTML file) to the client device 12. The usercan then view the content (e.g., web page) on the client device 12 andmay attempt to select or otherwise access a digital video accessiblefrom the web page. When the user selects content (e.g., a link orwindow) associated with the digital video, the client device 12 can send(step 24) to the server system 14 an indication that the user hasselected the content. In response, the server system 14 can send (step26) a video tag back to the client device 12. The video tag may be orinclude, for example, data related to how the client device 12 canaccess the digital video. In certain examples, the video tag includes anetwork address of a video file containing the digital video (e.g., in alink to the video file) and/or includes data related to the digitalvideo, such as information about a length or a format for the digitalvideo. After receiving and processing the video tag, the client device12 sends (step 28) a request to the video server 16 to access the videofile and the digital video. The video server 16 can send (step 30) thevideo file to the client device 12.

After or before the video file is received by the client device 12, theclient device 12 can load (step 32) the video player 18. The videoplayer 18 processes (step 34) the video file, including any executablecode or initial portions of the video file that are designated forprocessing before the digital video is displayed. The video player 18 isused to display (step 36) the digital video on the client device 12.

As discussed above, the process illustrated in FIG. 1 can result insignificant latency between the time when a user selects a digital videofor viewing and the time when a video player on the user's device beginsplaying the video. The inventors have recognized and appreciated that,in many cases, such latency can be reduced by eliminating one or more ofthe steps (20-36) illustrated in FIG. 1 and/or by initiating such stepssooner (e.g., before the user actually selects the digital video).

FIG. 2 is an example video accelerator 250 that includes or utilizesvarious modules for reducing or eliminating latency issues associatedwith online digital video. The modules can be implemented in software,hardware, or combinations thereof, and can use processors associatedwith one or more servers and/or client devices. The video accelerator250 can reside on or be processed with a server system and/or a clientdevice (e.g., the client device 12), as described herein.

For ease of understanding, the operations of the video accelerator 250are generally described below in the context of a scenario in which auser who is viewing a web page on a client device selects digitalcontent associated with an online digital video, which is subsequentlydisplayed by a video player on the client device. However, one ofordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the techniques describedherein are also applicable to other scenarios, including, withoutlimitation, scenarios in which digital content associated with an onlinedigital video is automatically selected on the user's behalf (e.g., bythe user's device or by other devices in communication with the user'sdevice), scenarios in which the user is viewing digital content otherthan a web page (e.g., digital content associated with a mobile app),etc.

In the depicted example, the video accelerator 250 includes or utilizesa video likelihood module 200, a mediation initiation module 202, avideo caching module 206, an unwrapping module 208, a video stitchingmodule 210, and a video player initiation module 212. In general, thevideo likelihood module 200 may be used to determine a likelihood thatdigital content associated with an online digital video will be selected(e.g., by the user). The likelihood can then be compared to a thresholdvalue (e.g., 10%, 25%, 50%, or 75%), which can be determined and/orspecified by providers (e.g., owners, operators, and/or publishers) ofthe digital content (e.g., web page) being viewed by the user, forexample. When the likelihood exceeds the threshold value, the videoaccelerator 250 can coordinate the performance of various tasks forreducing or eliminating latency associated with displaying a digitalvideo associated with the selected digital content. In this way, whenthe digital content associated with the online digital video isselected, there may be little or no delay before the digital video isdisplayed for the user (e.g., on the client device 12).

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an example web page 300 that includesdigital content 302 associated with an online digital video. The content302 can be or include, for example, a link, an image, a video player, aplay button on a video player, a portion of the web page reserved for orassociated with a video player, another user interface component, and/orother data that, when selected, initiates a process for displaying adigital video on a client device. A user can select the content 302 by,for example, tapping a touch screen or clicking a mouse associated withthe client device. In some embodiments, the content 302 can be selectedautomatically (e.g., simply by being partially or fully displayed on theclient device). In that case, for example, an online digital video orother information may be automatically presented when the content 302 isdisplayed, without further interaction from the user.

In the depicted example, the web page 300 includes a top portion 304that has already been viewed by the user on the client device, a middleportion 306 that is presently being viewed by the user, and a bottomportion 308 that has not yet been viewed by the user and that includesthe content 302. To determine a likelihood that the content 302 will beselected, the video likelihood module 200 can estimate a time it willtake before the user reaches the content 302. The time can bedetermined, for example, based on a distance D between the middleportion 306 and the content 302 and/or based on a velocity Vat which theuser is scrolling through the web page. The distance D may be measuredin inches, cm, pixels, or a percentage of web page length, for example.The velocity V may be measured in inches/sec, cm/sec, pixels/sec, or apercentage of web page length per second, for example. In certainimplementations, the time until the user reaches the content is 302 isdetermined from time=DIV. In general, the predicted time increases asthe distance Dis increased and/or as the velocity Vis decreased. Invarious instances, when the predicted time is large, it is less likelythat the user will select the content 302, because the user may losepatience and/or become distracted and may never reach the content 302.In one example, a mouse pointer velocity and/or a distance between amouse pointer and the content 302 can be used to predict a likelihoodthat the user will select the content 302.

Alternatively or additionally, the video likelihood module 200 candetermine the likelihood that the user will select the content 302 basedon other factors, including: a viewing history of the user, a viewinghistory of other users, a duration of the user's Internet session,and/or an Internet browser history. For example, if the user hashistorically accessed information (e.g., related to sports, politics,current events, or breaking news) that is similar to informationassociated with the content 302, the determined likelihood that the userwill select the content 302 can be higher. Likewise, if other users haveshown a tendency to select the content 302, the determined likelihoodthat the current user will also select the content 302 can be higher.Further, if the user's Internet session has just begun, the determinedlikelihood that the user will select the content 302 can be higher,given that the user is more likely to be focused on the Internet sessionand/or seeking information similar to the content 302. Further, theuser's Internet browser history may indicate that the user recentlyperformed a search for information associated with the content 302and/or selected a link that directed the user to the content 302. Insuch instances, the determined likelihood that the user will select thecontent 302 can be high, given that the user is probably looking for thecontent 302. Viewing histories and Internet browser histories can bestored locally on the client device and/or in one or more databasesassociated with a server system, as described herein.

In some examples, the video likelihood module 200 uses machine learningto predict the likelihood that the user will select the content 302. Thetraining data for a machine learning classifier or other predictivemodel can be or include, for example, information related to thedistance D, the velocity V, the predicted time until the user reachesthe content, the viewing history of the user and/or other users, theduration of the user's Internet session, the user's browser history,and/or whether or not the user selected the associated content 302. Thevideo likelihood module 200 or other components of the systems andmethods described herein can monitor and collect such information formultiple users and train one or more predictive models. The predictivemodels may be or include, for example, one or more linear classifiers(e.g., Fisher's linear discriminant, logistic regression, Naive Bayesclassifier, and/or perceptron), support vector machines (e.g., leastsquares support vector machines), quadratic classifiers, kernelestimation models (e.g., k-nearest neighbor), boosting (meta-algorithm)models, decision trees (e.g., random forests), neural networks, and/orlearning vector quantization models. Other predictive models can beused.

Once the video likelihood module 200 determines the likelihood that theuser will select the content 302, the video likelihood module 200compares the likelihood with the threshold value. If the likelihoodexceeds the threshold value, the video likelihood module 200 caninstruct the video accelerator 250 and/or other system components (e.g.,modules 202, 206, 208, 210, and/or 212) to prepare for possibleselection of the content 302 and presentation of the digital video. Thevideo accelerator 250 and/or the other system components can then takeaction to reduce latency associated with the digital video, as describedherein.

In some examples, the video likelihood module 200 can determine that thelikelihood of the content 302 being selected is sufficiently high basedon one or more heuristics, without actually calculating the likelihoodof the content 302 being selected or comparing that likelihood to athreshold value. For example, the video likelihood module 200 candetermine that the likelihood of particular content C being selected issufficiently high if (1) the client device loads a web page thatincludes the content C, (2) the user selects a link to a web page thatincludes the content C, (3) the user launches a mobile app that includesthe content C, (4) the user accesses a portion of a mobile app (e.g., aparticular portion of a user interface for the mobile app) that includesthe content C, and/or (5) the user accesses one or more other items ofcontent related to the content C, etc. If the likelihood of the contentC being selected is sufficiently high, the video likelihood module 200can instruct the video accelerator 250 and/or other system components(e.g., modules 202, 206, 208, 210, and/or 212) to prepare for possibleselection of the content 302 and presentation of the digital video. Thevideo accelerator 250 and/or the other system components can then takeaction to reduce latency associated with the digital video, as describedherein.

Referring again to FIG. 2, in certain instances, the mediationinitiation module 202 is instructed to initiate a mediation processbefore the user selects the content 302. In general, the mediationprocess is used to identify a digital video to be played on the user'sclient device, once the associated digital content 302 is selected. Insome embodiments, the mediation process involves communicating with aremote server (e.g., the web server or other server that provided theweb page and the associated content 302). For example, the user's clientdevice may send a message to the remote server, requesting that theremote server identify the online video to be displayed when theassociated content 302 is selected, and the remote server may respondwith a message identifying the video to be displayed.

In some embodiments, the mediation process involves not only identifyingthe video to be displayed, but also determining which video to display,because multiple videos may be associated with the content 302. Forexample, a remote server (e.g., the web server or other server thatprovided the web page and the associated content 302) may determine thevideo to be displayed based on attributes of the user, which may berepresented by data included in the client device's message to theremote server. Alternatively or in addition, the mediation process caninclude, for example, initiating an online auction with online bidders,in which each bidder offers to pay a monetary amount in exchange forplaying the bidder's digital video on the client device. When one of theoffers is accepted (e.g., by an owner or publisher of the web page 300,or by an auction operator), the digital video associated with the offercan be identified as the digital video that will be played on the clientdevice, once the content 302 is selected. Such auctions may beperformed, for example, when the content 302 is or includes a videoadvertisement player, and in such cases the identified digital video canbe a specific video advertisement. Alternatively or additionally, thedigital video to be displayed can be determined based on a look-up chartor other data linking the content 302 and the digital video.

In some examples, the mediation process may result in the user's clientdevice obtaining a “video tag” or “video serving tag” (VST). The videotag can include data identifying a video file (which may contain adigital video, e.g., the digital video to be played on the clientdevice, once the user selects the content 402), a network address of thevideo file, and/or other data associated with the video (e.g., a lengthand/or a format for the video). As described herein, the video file caninclude executable code or other data designated for processing beforethe digital video is displayed. In some embodiments, execution of suchcode or processing of such data may result in the initiation of anothermediation process, which may result in the user's client deviceobtaining another video tag. This process (sometimes referred to hereinas “unwrapping”) of obtaining a video tag, obtaining the video fileidentified by the tag, and executing code or processing data in thevideo file may be repeated one or more times, until the client deviceactually obtains a video file containing the video to be displayed. Theunwrapping process can be time-consuming and can contribute to latencyissues.

To reduce or avoid such latency issues, the unwrapping module 208 isconfigured to initiate the unwrapping process before the user selectsthe content 302. The unwrapping module 208 is preferably able tocomplete the unwrapping process before the user selects the content 302,such that the digital video is identified, obtained by the client device(e.g., received, downloaded from a server, etc.), and ready for playingbefore the content 302 is selected. In some instances, the unwrappingmodule 208 stores data extracted from the video tags obtained from theunwrapping process. That way, when the same video tag is encounteredagain in the future, the unwrapping module 208 can access the storedinformation, rather than performing the unwrapping process again.

Alternatively or additionally, the video caching module 206 can beinstructed to store at least a portion of the identified digital videoon the client device of the user. With the digital video or portionsthereof stored on the client device, the digital video can be accessedor played more quickly, once the content 302 is selected. In variousexamples, the video caching module 206 receives the digital video to becached from one or more other modules, such as the mediation initiationmodule 202 and/or the unwrapping module 208.

In various instances, once the digital video to be played has beenidentified, the video stitching module 210 can combine or stitch thedigital video together with one or more other videos. For example, whenthe user selects the content 302 in an effort to watch a particularvideo, the user may do so with the understanding that one or more videoadvertisements will be played before playing the particular video, atintermittent times after playing portions of the particular video, orafter playing the particular video in its entirety. When two or morevideos are played, latency issues can be reduced by stitching the videostogether into a single video. This stitching technique allows the videoplayer on the client device to proceed seamlessly from one digital videoto the next, without transitioning from loading and playing one video toloading and playing the next video. In some examples, the videostitching module 210 can obtain the digital videos or data identifyingthe digital videos from other modules (e.g., the mediation initiationmodule 202, the unwrapping module 208, and/or the video caching module206). The video stitching module 210 is preferably able to stitch thevideos together before the user selects the content 302, such that thecombined video is ready for playing before the content 302 is selected.

Alternatively or additionally, in some examples, the video playerinitiation module 212 can be used to initiate the video player on theclient device before the user selects the content 302. This can helpreduce or eliminate delays associated with initializing the videoplayer, which can contribute to overall digital video latency issues. Insome implementations, the video player is fully activated and ready toplay the digital video before the user selects the content 302.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of an example method 400 of reducing digital videolatency. The method includes determining (step 402) that a client deviceof a user is displaying a web page or other digital media. A likelihoodof selection (e.g., by the user) of content of the web page associatedwith online video is determined (step 404). Some examples of suchcontent are described above. A determination is made (step 406) that thelikelihood of selection exceeds a threshold (or that the likelihood ofselection is sufficiently high) and, based thereon, at least one of thefollowing steps is performed (step 408), before the content is selected:initiating a mediation process to identify a digital video associatedwith the content; unwrapping one or more video tags associated with thedigital video; storing at least a portion of the digital video on theclient device; stitching the digital video together with a seconddigital video; and initializing a video player for displaying thedigital video on the client device. Advantageously, the method 400reduces or eliminates latency issues associated with playing the digitalvideo on the client device. In preferred examples, the digital videobegins playing instantaneously or nearly instantaneously, once thecontent is selected.

In some embodiments, the video acceleration techniques described hereinare applied to a system for online advertising. In various examples, asystem for online advertising can deliver promotional messages toconsumers using visual and/or audio advertisements (or “ads”) in webpages. A publisher can include an ad space or other region in a web page(or other electronic document) where an advertisement can be placed.When the web page is displayed in a browser, an ad or “creative” (e.g.,an image, audio, or video advertisement or other presentation) can bedynamically retrieved from an ad server for an advertiser and displayedin the ad space. The act of serving a creative on a web page can bereferred to as an impression.

A publisher's ad space inventory is a collection of one or more adspaces on web pages served by the publisher. Publishers can sell theirad space inventories to advertisers and/or can participate in auctionswith advertisers in which selling and buying of ad space inventoriestake place. Auctions can be conducted by an ad network or ad exchangethat serves as a broker between one or more publishers and a group ofadvertisers.

Selling and buying ad spaces can be based on pricing or payment models,such as cost per thousand impressions (CPM), cost per click (CPC), andcost per action or acquisition (CPA). In the CPM model, advertiserstypically pay for every impression, and the price paid for eachimpression can be measured in price per I 000 (“mille”) impressions. Inthe CPC model, advertisers typically pay each time a viewer clicks ontheir advertisement. In the CPA model, advertisers typically pay forevery sale, registration or other action completed as a result ofviewers clicking on their advertisements.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example system 500 for online advertising,including a client-side video accelerator 250 a and/or server-side videoaccelerator 250 b for reducing latency associated with online videoadvertisements. A server system 522 provides functionality for real-timead space auctions. The server system 522 includes software componentsand databases that can be deployed at one or more data centers 521 inone or more geographic locations, for example. The server system 522software components may include one or more components of a videoaccelerator 250 b, a transaction manager 512, an ad server 514, one ormore bidders (e.g., bidder A 551, bidder B 552, and bidder C 553), andads list generator 565. The server system 522 can also include one ormore software components or tools for load balancing and/or security.The load balancing tools can manage traffic within a single data centeror between multiple data centers. The security tools can manage dataprotection and access privilege for tenants served by the data centers521. As described herein, the video accelerator 250 includes variousmodules for reducing latency associated with viewing online digitalvideo, which are used by the system 500 to reduce latency associatedwith viewing online video advertisements. For example, the videoaccelerator 250 and its modules can be implemented in the client-sidevideo accelerator 250 a and/or the server-side video accelerator 250 b.The software components can include subcomponents that can execute onthe same or on different individual data processing apparatus. Theserver system 522 databases include a server-side user data database532, transaction data database 534, and bid data database 536. Thedatabases can reside in one or more physical storage systems. Thesoftware components and databases will be further described below.

The transaction manager 512 (“impression bus” or simply “Imp Bus”) is anauction system that facilitates the transaction aspects of ad spaceinventory and impression trading between buyers and sellers. A buyer canbe an advertiser (e.g., a credit card company, a sportswear company), anad network, or an advertising agency, for example. Other buyers arepossible. A seller can be a publisher (e.g., newspaper or socialnetwork), an online streaming or gaming service, or an ad network. Othersellers are possible. The transaction manager 512 processes ad requestsreceived from web browsers or other software applications displayingcontent from publishers, sends relevant information to advertisers,conducts auctions (e.g., on behalf of sellers), returns creatives to thebrowsers or other applications, keeps track of billing and usage foradvertisers and publishers, returns auction-result data, and enforcesquality standards, for example. The transaction manager 512 can alsocoordinate the performance of various tasks to reduce or eliminatelatency issues associated with online digital videos, as describedherein. The transaction manager 512 stores in the transaction datadatabase 534 various transaction information for each ad space that istransacted by the transaction manager 512 or other software componentsof the server system 522.

The ad server 514 is a software component that serves creatives to webpages or other applications. The ad server 514 can also make decisionsabout which creatives to serve, and track clicks or other userinteractions with creatives, for example. A creative can be a visual oraudio advertisement such as an image, an animation, a video clip, or anaudio clip. Other types of a creative are possible.

A bidder system or bidder (e.g., bidder A 551) is a software componentthat, on behalf of a buyer, performs bidding operations. The biddertakes various pieces of bid-specific information (e.g., maximal bidprice, target user areas or segments, start and end dates, budget) asinput and generates a bid for a particular item of an ad spaceinventory, for example. A buyer can set up (e.g., through an API or webpages provided by the server system 522) a campaign targeting an adspace inventory with a set of bid-specific information for the ad spaceinventory and store the bid-specific information in bid data database536. In some implementations, a bidder can be remote from the serversystem 522, such as bidder D 528. Here, an ad space inventory can be acollection of one or more ad spaces on web pages served by a publisher'sweb site. An ad space inventory can also be a collection of one or moread spaces in user interfaces presented by a software applicationpublished by a publisher. Other types of ad space inventories arepossible.

The transaction manager 512 conducts an auction when receiving an adrequest for filling an available ad space. By way of illustration, agraphical user interface 524 of a software application 525 executing onclient device 520 of a user 519 can include an ad space 526 and acorresponding ad tag. The application 525 can be a web browserapplication, or a software application such as a game application or amaps application. For instance, a web page displayed in a browser windowof a web browser (e.g., running on a personal computer) can include anad space on the web page and a corresponding ad tag. By way ofillustration, the ad space can appear at the bottom of the userinterface (a “banner ad”) with a corresponding ad tag. Other examples ofad spaces are possible, including, without limitation, linear video ads,in-stream video ads (e.g., pre-roll, mid-roll, or post-roll in-streamvideo ads), interactive video ads, out-of-stream (“out-stream”) videoads, overlay video ads, etc. Here, the client device 520 can be a mobilephone, a smartwatch, a tablet computer, a personal computer, a gameconsole, or an in-car media system. Other examples of a client deviceare possible.

In some implementations, an ad tag includes a Uniform Resource Locator(URL) from which an ad will be requested (e.g., a URL for the serversystem 522), Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) statements, and/orJavaScript instructions for retrieving and displaying a creative (e.g.,displaying the creative in a 160×600 iframe). The application 525running on the client device 520 can retrieve content in the userinterface 524 (e.g., a web page) through one or more data communicationnetworks 513 such as the Internet, for example, from web servers 530 ofa publisher. The ad tag causes the application 525 to send (e.g.,through the networks 513) an ad request (“ad call”) to the server system522. In some implementations, the application 525 sends an ad request tothe server system 522 via another advertising server system such as anad exchange. The ad request can include information about the availablead space 526 (e.g., a size for the ad space, an identifier for thepublisher), user information (e.g., an identifier of the user 519, anInternet Protocol or IP address), and system information (e.g., types ofthe browser and the client device), for example. The ad request can becomposed in JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) or Extensible MarkupLanguage (XML) format and transmitted to the server system 522 usingHypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) protocol (e.g., using HTTP POSTrequest method). Other ad request formats and transmission methods arepossible.

In response to the ad request, the transaction manager 512 can accessthe server-side user data store database 532 based on the user'sidentifier (if available), and retrieve available information about theuser (e.g., user segment information such as age, gender, interests, orlocation). The transaction manager 512 generates a bid request includinginformation about the ad space, the user, and so on, and sends the bidrequest to multiple bidders such as bidder A 551 and bidder B 552. Thetransaction manager 512 can also send the bid request through thenetworks 513 to servers of bidder D 528, which is external to the serversystem 522. The bid request can be composed in JSON format and sent tobidders using HTTP POST. The bid request can also be encoded orcompressed. Other bid request formats and transmission methods arepossible.

Each bidder can determine an appropriate bid based on its ownrequirements (e.g., budget, targets in placements) and, if desired,submit a bid response including a bid price and an identifier of acreative to be served, for example, to the transaction manager 512. Thetransaction manager 512 determines a winning bid (e.g., a highest bid)among bid responses received within a specified time period (e.g., 100milliseconds). The transaction manager 512 then returns a creative ofthe winning bid to the client device 520, causing the application 525 todisplay the creative in the ad space in the user interface 524. Thetransaction manager 512 can also return a URL for a creative of thewinning bid to the client device 520, causing the application 525 on theclient device 520 to retrieve the creative from an ad server (e.g., adserver 514, or ad servers 527 external to the server system 522), orfrom servers of a content distribution network (CDN) 531. In variousimplementations, the transaction manager 512 can store in thetransaction data database 534 transaction information such as anidentifier of the creative served to the ad space, an identifier of thewinning buyer, the user's identifier, the winning bid price, anidentifier of the ad space, an identifier of the seller of the ad space,and a time stamp. The winning bid price (i.e., the price paid by thewinning buyer) can be the bid price submitted by the winning buyer, or asecond highest bid price of the auction as determined by Vickrey auctionor other second-price auction mechanisms. Other types of transactioninformation are possible.

In comparison to display ads (e.g., ads in text, images or animations),video ads can command higher prices. However, video ads often take along time to load into a webpage, largely because of the time requiredfor a server (e.g., an ad network) to select a video ad and for theclient device 520 to obtain the video ad and load the video ad in avideo player. Particular implementations described in this disclosuredescribe methods for acquiring video ads and/or other online videocontent on the client-side. A computer program or computer-executableinstructions on a client device can acquire video ads and decide on abest-available video ad to present in a web page. The programs orinstructions can asynchronously acquire and cache the video ad or othervideo before a user views the video (e.g., before the user presses a“play” button or otherwise interacts with a video player), thusproviding a better user experience. For example, a process could runasynchronously on a first web page to acquire and cache a video ad andthen use the results on a second web page later (e.g., many secondslater) when the video is instantly available. Likewise, a process couldrun asynchronously to acquire three video ads at the commencement of apre-roll video ad in a linear video stream and then use the results whenall three ads are needed in a mid-roll ad pod.

FIG. 6 is a data flow diagram of an example method 600 for client-sidevideo ad mediation. The method 600 can be implemented by acomputer-executable mediation component 602 that executes on the clientdevice 520, for example. The mediation component 602 can implement, forexample, ad auction functionality. By way of illustration, the userinterface 524 can be a web page (or a structured document), and themediation component 602 can include JavaScript instructions in theheader or body of the web page. In some implementations, the mediationcomponent 602 can be invoked via an ad tag of an ad space (e.g., the adspace 526) in the web page, for example. In some implementations, themediation component 602 can be invoked by the mediation initiationmodule 202 of the video accelerator 250 a. In one example, themeditation initiation module 202 invokes the mediation component 602upon receiving suitable instructions from the video likelihood module200. For example, the mediation initiation module 202 may invoke themediation component 602 upon initialization of a video ad player (e.g.,in accordance with the Video Player-Ad Interface Definition (VPAID)(e.g., using VPAID Init)). Initiating client side mediation (e.g.,invoking client-side video auction logic) in response to initializationof the video ad player (e.g., in the VP AID initialization block,separate from video viewing code) can avoid lengthy loading or spinningicon indicators from appearing in a blank video player. In oneimplementation, the mediation process is performed in advance of a userhitting the play button, for example, during loading of the web page.This allows the lengthy mediation, tag unwrapping, video caching, and/orvideo player initiation processes to occur in a manner not visible to auser and/or before the user selects the play button or other content.This type of logic can be used, for example, with out-stream video,where video appears on an article page between paragraphs of text, orwith in-stream video. Once the video acceleration process is completed,the results can then be used, for example, within the same Flash virtualmachine in a subsequent VP AID Start Ad step for a rapid video playbackexperience.

In FIG. 6, the mediation component 602 makes a request (step 612) to theserver system 522 for an ad (e.g., a video ad) to be presented in the adspace 526. The mediation component 602 can make the request, forexample, when the user 519 navigates to the user interface 524 and/orprior to user interaction with a video player. In addition to ad spaceinformation, user information, and system information described earlier,the ad request can include an indication for requesting a video adand/or an identification of an available video player for playing videoads. A video player can be in a web browser or in an application (e.g.,the user interface 524) that supports HTML or video elements, forexample. Other types of video players are possible. For instance, avideo player can be or include code (e.g., a “plug-in” in a web browser)that can be used to play videos.

In one implementation, after receiving the ad request, the ads listgenerator 565 of the server system 522 creates a ranked list of ads forthe ad request (step 614). The ads list generator 565 can first identifya set of available ads (creatives). The available ads can include adsthat are part of an existing agreement between a seller associated withthe ad space 526 and a buyer. One or more available ads can also be froma real-time ad space auction (e.g., a real-time bidding (RTB) auctionperformed on RTB servers in server system 522). The ads list generator565 can access transaction data stored in the transaction data database534 and rank the available ads based on each ad's past performance(e.g., a number of impressions or click events over a period of time)for the ad space 526 (or for an ad space inventory including the adspace 526). Other methods for identifying and ranking available ads arepossible. The ads list generator 565 can generate a ranked list of adsincluding top-ranked ads (e.g., the top 20 ads), for example. The rankedlist can be an ordered array of ads composed in XML or anotherstructured language, for example. Each ad in the ranked list can bespecified by a web address of an ad server (or a link to another adserver) from which a creative can be retrieved. In some implementations,the list of ads is not ranked or in any particular order.

The server system 522 then sends the ranked list of ads (step 616) tothe user interface 524 of the client device 520. After receiving theranked list of ads, the mediation component 602 sends an ad request(step 618) to each of the ad servers 650 specified in the ranked list.The ad request can include information about the ad space 526, userinformation, and system information. The ad request can also include anindication for requesting a video ad. The ad request can also includebid information such as a minimal bid price. The ad request can becomposed in JSON or XML format and transmitted to the ad servers 650using HTTP POST protocol, for example. Note that the mediation component602 can send the ad requests to the ad servers 650 in parallel. In someimplementations, the mediation component 602 can send the ad requests tothe ad servers 650 asynchronously (e.g., before the user interface 524loads other content to be presented in the user interface 524, or beforethe user 519 navigates to a location near the ad space 526). In thisway, an ad (e.g., a video ad) can be ready to be presented in the adspace 526 when the user 519 navigates to a location where the ad space526 is visible (e.g., within a view port of the user interface 526).When the ad space 526 includes a video player with pre-roll, mid-roll,and/or post-roll advertising content in connection with video contentdesired to be viewed by the user, asynchronous ad requesting (e.g., bythe mediation component 602 when invoked by the mediation initiationmodule 202) and video caching (e.g., by video caching module 206) canachieve a seamless transition among advertising content and desiredvideo content by having the auction (if any) run and the advertisingcontent downloaded prior to the user pressing “play” or prior toreaching a point in the desired video content where the advertisingcontent will be shown (e.g., the media process for a mid-rolladvertisement can be run prior to the user reaching the mid-roll). Theprocess can run just prior to when it is needed, or well in advance ofwhen it is needed. For greater efficiency, the process can be run closeto the point in time when the video or ad is needed, in order to ensurea high probability that the user will in fact watch the ad. As describedabove, a video likelihood module 200 of the video accelerator 250 a canbe used to determine the time at which to acquire the videos or ads inadvance of usage (e.g., based on a predictive model (e.g., one or moreclassifier algorithms), user behavior, auction running times, etc.).

After receiving the ad requests (step 618), each of the ad servers 650can send a response (step 620) back to the mediation component 602, orcan provide no response at all. A response from an ad server 650 can bea creative for a display ad. A response for a video ad can include, forexample, a video creative or a “wrapper” (e.g., a Video Ad ServingTemplate (VAST)) that specifies a network address of another server fromwhich a video creative can be retrieved. A response can also includepricing information associated with a creative such as a bid price(e.g., $0.05) and a payment model (e.g., CPM) that a buyer is willing topay for the ad space 526. A response from an ad server 650 can alsoinclude an error message. Other types of response messages from the adservers 650 are possible. A video creative can be in VP AID, MovingPicture Experts Group (e.g., MPEG or MPEG-4), Flash Video, WebM, or Oggfile format. Other file formats for a video creative are possible.

After receiving responses from the ad servers 650, the video accelerator250 a processes the responses (step 622) for presentation of a video adin the ad space 526. More particularly, the unwrapping module 208unwraps each wrapper response (e.g., by identifying in the wrapperresponse a network address of an ad server for a video creative andretrieving the video creative from the ad server, etc.). Unwrapping thewrapper responses may yield multiple redirects, which can slow down theprocess of obtaining a video ad and increase latency. In someembodiments, multiple wrapper responses can be unwrapped asynchronouslywhile calling out each of the different networks in parallel to completethis process more quickly. The unwrapped contents of the wrappers (e.g.,the parsed contents of the VAST tags) can be cached in local storage forquick lookup, thereby avoiding the need for slower redirects whenprocessing the same wrappers in the future. The video accelerator 250 acan stop receiving responses after a pre-determined time-out period(e.g., 500 milliseconds) if video creatives are still not yet available,such as when there is no response from a particular ad server. This canhelp to greatly reduce overall latency in the video ad selectionprocess.

The mediation component 602 then selects a particular video creativefrom the retrieved video creatives and stores the selected videocreative locally (step 624) (e.g., using the video caching module 206),such that the video is available prior to the user's need to view it.The mediation component 602 can select from the retrieved videocreatives a particular one that is ranked highest in the ranked list616. As described earlier, each response 620 can include a bid price.The mediation component 602 can select from the retrieved videocreatives a particular one that has the highest bid price (e.g., thewinning bid). In some implementations, the mediation component 602selects from the retrieved video creatives one that has the highest bidprice and meets a pre-determined floor price. In this way, the mediationcomponent 602 on the client device 520 can mediate and select a videocreative, without relying on a server (e.g., an ad exchange, an adnetwork) for selecting a video creative.

If no video creatives are available (e.g., no response from ad servers650), the mediation component 602 can select a display ad. The mediationcomponent 602 can also select a display ad that can be used in place ofa selected video ad after the selected video ad has been presented, aswill be described in more detail below. The mediation component 602 mayselect a display ad if the display ad is ranked highest in the rankedlist, or has a highest bid price. The mediation component 602 may selecta display ad (e.g., in some cases, without sending ad requests 618 forvideo ads), if the mediation component 602 determines that an availablenetwork bandwidth for the client device 520 is constrained, for example,below a pre-determined threshold, or with a mobile (e.g., cellular)network connection only. The mediation component 602 may also retrievean audio portion only of a selected video creative, for example, ifavailable bandwidth for downloading the video is constrained. In someimplementations, the mediation component 602 can determine an availablenetwork bandwidth by measuring a download speed for retrieving videocreatives from the ad servers 650, or additional VAST files. Themediation component 602 can also retrieve a different resolution version(e.g., different file size) of a video creative based on the determinedbandwidth.

The mediation component 602 can direct the video accelerator 250 a(e.g., the video caching module 206) to store (cache) the selected videocreative and/or information associated with the selected ad response(e.g., VAST tag) in a local storage, for example. For instance, thevideo caching module 206 can store the selected video creative in one ormore HTML5 local storage objects. In this way, the selected videocreative can be readily available for presentation when the user 519navigates to a location near the ad space 526 in the user interface 524or attempts to view desired media content in a video player. Theselected video can be stored in an HTML5 local storage object that doesnot expire, or in an HTML5 local storage object that is specific to auser session (e.g., a web browser tab) and is lost after the usersession is closed. The video caching module 206 can also specify atime-to-live (e.g., 4 hours) for the local storage, and remove thecached video from the local storage after the time-to-live had expired.Other methods for storing the selected video in a local storage arepossible. For instance, the video caching module 206 can store theselected video in a web browser cookie, or in a memory associated with acomputing process of the video accelerator 250 a (“in-memory”). Thevideo accelerator 250 a can specify a preferred list of local storages,for example, HTML5 local storage object, cookie, and in-memory. Fallbacklogic can be used to determine which methodology to instantiate based ona user's local environment. Note that videos can be cached as full videofiles (e.g., VPAID, mp4, or swf) or only as VAST tags, to reduce storageneeds.

In addition, the video caching module 206 can instantiate one or more“local storage” objects for caching videos associated with the userinterface 524 (or can cache videos within “session storage” associatedwith user sessions). For instance, each local storage object can be usedfor a video creative for a different advertising target (e.g., differentuser segments).

It should be noted that, in some implementations, certain functionalityperformed by the mediation component 602 as described herein can beperformed by server system 522 or some other server-side component. Forexample, rather than executing an impression auction client-side, an adauction platform in server system 522 can be responsible for sending thead requests to the ad servers 650 and receiving the bid responses, ifany. In other words, the ad auction techniques described above can beshifted to programmatic RTB platforms that are remote to the clientdevice 520 but have substantially greater processing power and areoptimized for such operations. In addition, such remote components(e.g., server system 522) can perform compositing or stitching ofadvertising content and other video content (e.g., a video clip,television program, movie, etc.), thereby delivering a single, seamlessvideo stream to the user. For example, the video stitching module 210 ofthe video accelerator 250 may be implemented in the server-side videoaccelerator 250 b rather than the client-side video accelerator 250 a.The stitching approach is, in some instances, effective against adblockers because the video stream is integrated and blocking theadvertising content would result in blocking the other media content aswell.

The user interface 524 can retrieve from the local storage and present(e.g., by a video player of the user interface 524) the selected videocreative (step 626) in response to a user event associated with the userinterface 524. For example, the user interface 524 can start presentingthe selected video in the ad space 526. A user event can be a usernavigating to a location near the ad space 526, a cursor hovering overthe ad space 526, or a user selection of a play button or other onlinecontent. The user interface 524 can stop presenting the video creativewhen the user navigates away from the video creative, or when the userselects a stop or pause button, for example. Other user events fortriggering the presentation and/or stoppage of the selected video arepossible. For instance, the user interface 525, such as a web browser,can start presenting the selected video (e.g., in outstream videoformat) in a web page when a user scrolls down the web page and theselected video window appears (e.g., when at least 50% of the area orwindow of the selected video is in a view port of the web browser). Insome implementations, the web browser turns on an audio portion of theselected video when a curser hovers over the selected video ad. The webbrowser can pause the selected video when the user scrolls further down(or back up) the web page and moves away from the selected video ad. Theweb browser can resume presenting the selected video when the usernavigates back to the selected video.

After the selected video has been presented (e.g., completely, orpartially but exceeding a pre-determined time period), the mediationcomponent 602 can send a report (step 628) to the server system 522 forstoring in the transaction data database 534. For instance, the reportcan include the winning bid price, a buyer of the winning bid, errormessage, a latency for retrieving the selected video creative from an adserver. Other reporting information for storing in the transaction datadatabase 534 is possible. The mediation component 602 can instruct thevideo caching module 206 to remove the selected video from the localstorage after the selected video has been presented.

After responses have been received (step 620), a video creative has beenselected and stored in a local storage (step 624), or the selected videocreative has been presented (step 626) or reported (step 628), themediation component 602 can send a second set of ad requests (step 632)to the ad servers 650 specified in the ranked list. When receiving asecond set of responses (step 634) from the ad servers 650, themediation component 602 processes the second set of responses (step 636)for presentation of a video ad in the ad space 526, and selects andcaches a second particular video creative (step 638), as describedearlier in reference to steps 618, 620, 622, and 624. The secondselected video creative can be cached in a local storage that isdifferent from the local storage used for the first selected videocreative. The user interface 524 can present the selected video creative(step 640) in the ad space 526 in response to a user event. Moreparticularly, when receiving and processing the second set of responses,the mediation component 602 can have a longer time-out period forallowing the ad servers 650 to provide responses, thus providing apotentially larger pool of responses and higher bid price. The longertime-out period can be pre-determined (e.g., 600 milliseconds). Thelonger time-out period can also be determined based on the length of thefirst selected video creative. For instance, if the first selected videocreative has a length of 10 seconds, the mediation component 602 canhave a time-out period of 5 seconds for the second set of responses,since it is unlikely a second video creative is needed when the firstselected video creative is being presented. In some implementations, themediation components 602 can send the first set of ad requests (step618) and the second set of ad requests (step 632) simultaneously to thead servers 650.

As describer earlier, the mediation component 602 can be, include, oruse an ad tag of an ad space. In some implementations, an ad tag can bea universal tag that supports multiple ad spaces (for ad placements) ina web page. Each ad space supports one or more ad media types. Ad mediatypes can be a display ad, a video ad, an audio ad, and a native ad.Other ad media types are possible. For instance, an ad space can supportvideo ads in the outstream video format. The universal tag can, inresponse to a user event, send ad requests for one or more of the adspaces in the web page to the server system 522 in a single transmission(or a minimal number of transmissions). The server system 522 canconduct multiple real-time auctions (or identify existing agreementsbetween buyers and sellers) for all requests, and provide resultingcreatives (or ad servers for resulting creatives) in a single response(or in a minimal number of transmissions) to the user interface 524. Theresponse can also include media renderers (or identifiers of renderers)for the resulting creatives.

Each ad space can include one or more targeting attributes (e.g., userdemographics) and technical attributes (e.g., video skip offset, videoskippability enabled, auto detection of page text width to define videolayer size, and so on). The universal tag can send to the server system522 ad request for the ad spaces in the web page, including thetargeting and technical attributes. The server system 522 can conductauctions (or identify existing agreements) for the requests based on thetargeting and technical attributes.

The universal tag can support the outstream video format for ad spaces.A video ad in the outstream video format can expand from a zero initialstate to full size, can pause when out of view by a configurablethreshold, and/or can resume playback when in view by a configurablethreshold. The outstream video format can also support audio and videobehaviors (technical attributes) such as auto-play vs. mouse-over toactivate sound and/or video, for example. Other audio and videobehaviors supported by the outstream video format are possible.

The server system 522 can conduct auctions (or identify existingagreements) for video ads in the outstream video format as requested bythe universal tag, and return resulting video ad information (e.g., inVAST tags), an outstream video renderer, and/or technical attributes forthe video ad to the user interface 524.

In addition to sending ad requests to the server system 522, theuniversal tag or the mediation component 602 can send ad requests to thead servers 650 for each of the ad spaces in the web page and each of themedia types supported by the ad spaces. The mediation component 602 canselect the best available responses from the ad servers 650, asdescribed earlier in reference to steps 618, 620, 622, and 624. In thisway, additional pools of buyers may be available (in addition to theauctions conducted by the server system 522) and can yield betterrevenue for the ad spaces.

In some implementations, if there is no demand for one of the mediatypes for an ad space supported by the universal media tag, analternative media type may be used instead. This can allow formaximizing revenue opportunity within a single ad space for the content.There could be many different media types competing for the opportunityto fill the ad space, in comparison to competing demand sources for thesame media type.

In general, it is desirable to minimize the delay between a time when auser selects content on a web page and a time when a video associatedwith the content begins playing. Lengthy delays lead to user frustrationand can cause users to abandon the content and not view the associatedvideo. In some instances (e.g., with “outstream” video ads) a videoplayer window can appear at and/or expand from a location on a web pageas a user is viewing or scrolling down the web page. The longer thevideo player's window remains empty, the more impatient the user canbecome and/or the more likely the user is to scroll past the videoplayer window, without viewing the video.

In various instances, latency is reduced by preparing a video player tobegin playing a digital video immediately after the user selects contentassociated with the digital video. Initiating and/or preparing the videoplayer to play the digital video can be performed using the videoaccelerator 250. For example, the video player initiation module 212 canprepare the digital video for immediate playback on the video playerafter the digital video has been identified (e.g., using the mediationinitiation module 202) and optionally cached (e.g., using the videocaching module 206) and/or stitched with another video (e.g., using thevideo stitching module 210).

Referring to FIG. 7, in certain examples, a video file 700 can include adigital video 702 (e.g., a digital video associated with the content302) and an initial portion 704 (e.g., executable code and/orinstructions for playing the digital video 702) that precedes thedigital video 702. When a video player opens the video file 700 andproceeds through the video file 700 in a play direction 706, the videoplayer can perform operations on the initial portion 704 before reachingor accessing the digital video 702. A start location 708 is a locationwhere the initial portion 704 ends and the digital video 702 begins.

In preferred implementations, the video player processes the video file700 to determine the start location 708 before the digital video 702 isdisplayed for the user. To determine the start location 708, forexample, the video player can search for or identify a tag in the videofile 700 that marks the start location 708. Alternatively oradditionally, the video player can scan the video file 700 to identify alocation where content in the video file 700 changes from non-videocontent to video content. A transition from the non-video content to thevideo content can indicate the start location 708. In some examples, thevideo player scans the video file 700 by processing or playing the videofile 700 in the play direction 706, starting from a beginning 710 of thevideo file 700. When a tag or a change in content is encountered thatindicates the start location 708, the video player can stop proceedingin the play direction 706 and/or mark the start location 708. If thevideo player has proceeded past the start location 708, the video playercan rewind the video file 700 to the start location 708, as needed, suchthat the video player is ready to begin playing of the video file 700from the start location 708. In preferred examples, the video playerprovides a notification to inform the video accelerator 250 or othersystem component(s) that the video player has been paused or stopped atthe start location 708. If no such notification is received, the videoplayer and/or the digital video 702 can be terminated. This can avoid asituation where the video player continues to play the digital video702, possibly off-screen or in the background, without pausing orstopping at the start location 708.

With the start location 708 identified and/or with the video playerpositioned or configured to begin playing the video file 700 from thestart location 708, the video player can now wait for furtherinstructions (e.g., from the user). When the user selects contentassociated with the digital video 702, for example, the video player canbegin playing the video file 700 from the start location 708. In thisway, the user can avoid delays associated with initializing the videoplayer and/or processing the initial portion 704 of the video file 700.

In some examples, when the start location 708 is identified and/or whenthe video player is positioned to begin playback from the start location708, the start location 708 and/or a state of the video player can bestored. This allows the video player to close (or go to sleep) and bereopened (or woken up) when the user is ready to view the digital video702. For example, when the user selects content associated with thedigital video 702, the video player can be restarted (or woken up) andthe start location 708 and/or the stored state can be retrieved, suchthat the video player can begin playing the video file 700 from thestart location 708. Allowing the video player to close or go to sleep inthis manner can free up system resources (e.g., system memory and/or aprocessor associated with the video player).

In various examples, a video player provides signals to other systemcomponents (e.g., the video accelerator 250) to indicate when the videofile 700 has been “loaded” and/or when the digital video 702 has been“started” or “completed.” It is important for such signals to be issuedcorrectly so that the video accelerator 250 and/or other systemcomponents can be kept apprised of the video player status and can takeany corrective action, as needed, to reduce or avoid digital videolatency issues. For example, when a video player opens and beginsprocessing the video file 700, the video player can send a “loaded”signal indicating that the video file 700 has been opened by the videoplayer. Alternatively or additionally, the video player can send a“started” signal indicating that the video player has reached thedigital video 702 in the video file 700 and has started playing thedigital video 702. In some instances, the video player can send a“completed” signal when the video player has reached an end of thedigital video 702 in the video file 700. Proper issuance of such signalscan avoid situations where the video accelerator 250 or other systemcomponents make decisions based on incorrect information, which can leadto further latency issues and/or accounting issues.

To ensure the video player signals are provided at appropriate times,the video player can be configured to send signals only in certaininstances. For example, in preferred implementations, the video playeris configured to send the started signal only after the user hasselected the content and the video player has begun playing the digitalvideo 702. Likewise, the video player is preferably configured to sendthe completed signal only after the user has selected the content andthe video player has completed playing the digital video 702 or aspecified portion thereof (e.g., 50% or 75% of the digital video 702).Such configuring of the video player may be performed by the videoaccelerator module 250. For example, the video player initiation module250 may provide instructions to the video player regarding the properissuance of video player signals.

In some examples, any improper video player signals can be interceptedbefore the signals are received by third parties (e.g., web site ownersor video providers) or certain system components (e.g., the transactionmanager 512). In that case, for example, any signals issued by the videoplayer can be configured to pass through a filter that lets the signalspass through only when certain circumstances are met. For example, astarted signal may be permitted to pass through the filter only afterthe user has selected the content and the video player has begun playingthe digital video 702. Additionally or alternatively, a completed signalmay be permitted to pass through the filtering module only after theuser has selected the content and the video player has completed playingthe digital video 702 or a specified portion thereof (e.g., 50% or 75%of the digital video 702). In some instances, the initial portion 704 ofthe video file 700 can include executable code that instructs the videoplayer to send the started signal when the initial portion 704 isprocessed by the video player. The filter can be used to block thestarted signal or other signals issued by the video player as a resultof executable code in the initial portion 704. In certain instances, thefilter is implemented in the video accelerator module 250, for example,as part of the video player initiation module 212.

Proper issuance of video player signals can be important in the contextof online video advertising. If the digital video 702 is or includes avideo ad, for example, improper issuance of the started signal couldlead certain parties (e.g., advertisers or website publishers) toconclude that a video ad was shown to users more times than it hadactually been shown. Such incorrect information could constitute fraudand/or may cause advertisers to pay publishers for ads that were nevershown.

Advantageously, the systems and methods described herein are configuredto be used with web browsers, applications, or other programs used todisplay online digital video content. In the context of outstream video,the systems and methods preferably do not expand a window to display avideo until the video is actually playing.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of an example method 800 of reducing digital videolatency. The method includes determining (step 802) that a client deviceof a user is displaying a web page. A likelihood that the user willselect content on the web page is determined (step 804), wherein thecontent is associated with a digital video. A determination is made(step 806) that the likelihood exceeds a threshold and, based thereon,the following steps are performed: the digital video associated with thecontent is identified (step 808); a copy of a video file is obtained(step 810) that includes the digital video and an initial portion thatprecedes the digital video; a video player is initiated (step 812) fordisplaying the digital video, a start location in the video file wherethe initial portion ends and the digital video begins is determined(step 814); and the video player is configured to begin playing thevideo file from the start location when the user selects the content.

Implementations of the subject matter and the operations described inthis specification can be implemented in digital electronic circuitry,or in computer software, firmware, or hardware, including the structuresdisclosed in this specification and their structural equivalents, or incombinations of one or more of them. Implementations of the subjectmatter described in this specification can be implemented as one or morecomputer programs, i.e., one or more modules of computer programinstructions, encoded on computer storage medium for execution by, or tocontrol the operation of, data processing apparatus. Alternatively or inaddition, the program instructions can be encoded on anartificially-generated propagated signal, e.g., a machine-generatedelectrical, optical, or electromagnetic signal, that is generated toencode information for transmission to suitable receiver apparatus forexecution by a data processing apparatus. A computer storage medium canbe, or be included in, a computer-readable storage device, acomputer-readable storage substrate, a random or serial access memoryarray or device, or a combination of one or more of them. Moreover,while a computer storage medium is not a propagated signal, a computerstorage medium can be a source or destination of computer programinstructions encoded in an artificially-generated propagated signal. Thecomputer storage medium can also be, or be included in, one or moreseparate physical components or media (e.g., multiple CDs, disks, orother storage devices).

The operations described in this specification can be implemented asoperations performed by a data processing apparatus on data stored onone or more computer-readable storage devices or received from othersources.

The term “data processing apparatus” encompasses all kinds of apparatus,devices, and machines for processing data, including by way of example aprogrammable processor, a computer, a system on a chip, or multipleones, or combinations, of the foregoing The apparatus can includespecial purpose logic circuitry, e.g., an FPGA (field programmable gatearray) or an ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit). Theapparatus can also include, in addition to hardware, code that createsan execution environment for the computer program in question, e.g.,code that constitutes processor firmware, a protocol stack, a databasemanagement system, an operating system, a cross-platform runtimeenvironment, a virtual machine, or a combination of one or more of them.The apparatus and execution environment can realize various differentcomputing model infrastructures, such as web services, distributedcomputing and grid computing infrastructures.

A computer program (also known as a program, software, softwareapplication, script, or code) can be written in any form of programminglanguage, including compiled or interpreted languages, declarative orprocedural languages, and it can be deployed in any form, including as astand-alone program or as a module, component, subroutine, object, orother unit suitable for use in a computing environment. A computerprogram may, but need not, correspond to a file in a file system. Aprogram can be stored in a portion of a file that holds other programsor data (e.g., one or more scripts stored in a markup languageresource), in a single file dedicated to the program in question, or inmultiple coordinated files (e.g., files that store one or more modules,sub-programs, or portions of code). A computer program can be deployedto be executed on one computer or on multiple computers that are locatedat one site or distributed across multiple sites and interconnected by acommunication network.

The processes and logic flows described in this specification can beperformed by one or more programmable processors executing one or morecomputer programs to perform actions by operating on input data andgenerating output. The processes and logic flows can also be performedby, and apparatus can also be implemented as, special purpose logiccircuitry, e.g., an FPGA (field programmable gate array) or an ASIC(application-specific integrated circuit).

Processors suitable for the execution of a computer program include, byway of example, both general and special purpose microprocessors, andany one or more processors of any kind of digital computer. Generally, aprocessor will receive instructions and data from a read-only memory ora random access memory or both. The essential elements of a computer area processor for performing actions in accordance with instructions andone or more memory devices for storing instructions and data. Generally,a computer will also include, or be operatively coupled to receive datafrom or transfer data to, or both, one or more mass storage devices forstoring data, e.g., magnetic, magneto-optical disks, or optical disks.However, a computer need not have such devices. Moreover, a computer canbe embedded in another device, e.g., a smart phone, a mobile audio orvideo player, a game console, a Global Positioning System (GPS)receiver, or a portable storage device (e.g., a universal serial bus(USB) flash drive), to name just a few. Devices suitable for storingcomputer program instructions and data include all forms of non-volatilememory, media and memory devices, including by way of examplesemiconductor memory devices, e.g., EPROM, EEPROM, and flash memorydevices; magnetic disks, e.g., internal hard disks or removable disks;magneto-optical disks; and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks. The processor andthe memory can be supplemented by, or incorporated in, special purposelogic circuitry.

To provide for interaction with a user, implementations of the subjectmatter described in this specification can be implemented on a computerhaving a display device, e.g., a CRT (cathode ray tube) or LCD (liquidcrystal display) monitor, for displaying information to the user and akeyboard and a pointing device, e.g., a mouse or a trackball, by whichthe user can provide input to the computer. Other kinds of devices canbe used to provide for interaction with a user as well; for example,feedback provided to the user can be any form of sensory feedback, e.g.,visual feedback, auditory feedback, or tactile feedback; and input fromthe user can be received in any form, including acoustic, speech, ortactile input. In addition, a computer can interact with a user bysending resources to and receiving resources from a device that is usedby the user; for example, by sending web pages to a web browser on auser's client device in response to requests received from the webbrowser.

Implementations of the subject matter described in this specificationcan be implemented in a computing system that includes a back-endcomponent, e.g., as a data server, or that includes a middlewarecomponent, e.g., an application server, or that includes a front-endcomponent, e.g., a client computer having a graphical user interface ora Web browser through which a user can interact with an implementationof the subject matter described in this specification, or anycombination of one or more such back-end, middleware, or front-endcomponents. The components of the system can be interconnected by anyform or medium of digital data communication, e.g., a communicationnetwork. Examples of communication networks include a local area network(“LAN”) and a wide area network (“WAN”), an internetwork (e.g., theInternet), and peer-to-peer networks (e.g., ad hoc peer-to-peernetworks).

The computing system can include clients and servers. A client andserver are generally remote from each other and typically interactthrough a communication network. The relationship of client and serverarises by virtue of computer programs running on the respectivecomputers and having a client-server relationship to each other. In someimplementations, a server transmits data (e.g., an HTML page) to aclient device (e.g., for purposes of displaying data to and receivinguser input from a user interacting with the client device). Datagenerated at the client device (e.g., a result of the user interaction)can be received from the client device at the server.

A system of one or more computers can be configured to performparticular operations or actions by virtue of having software, firmware,hardware, or a combination of them installed on the system that inoperation causes or cause the system to perform the actions. One or morecomputer programs can be configured to perform particular operations oractions by virtue of including instructions that, when executed by dataprocessing apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform the actions.

While this specification contains many specific implementation details,these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of anyinventions or of what may be claimed, but rather as descriptions offeatures specific to particular implementations of particularinventions. Certain features that are described in this specification inthe context of separate implementations can also be implemented incombination in a single implementation. Conversely, various featuresthat are described in the context of a single implementation can also beimplemented in multiple implementations separately or in any suitablesubcombination. Moreover, although features may be described above asacting in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such, oneor more features from a claimed combination can in some cases be excisedfrom the combination, and the claimed combination may be directed to asubcombination or variation of a subcombination.

Similarly, while operations are depicted in the drawings in a particularorder, this should not be understood as requiring that such operationsbe performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, orthat all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirableresults. In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processingmay be advantageous. Moreover, the separation of various systemcomponents in the implementations described above should not beunderstood as requiring such separation in all implementations, and itshould be understood that the described program components and systemscan generally be integrated together in a single software product orpackaged into multiple software products.

Thus, particular implementations of the subject matter have beendescribed. Other implementations are within the scope of the followingclaims. In some cases, the actions recited in the claims can beperformed in a different order and still achieve desirable results. Inaddition, the processes depicted in the accompanying figures do notnecessarily require the particular order shown, or sequential order, toachieve desirable results. It should be understood that the order ofsteps or order for performing certain actions is immaterial so long asthe systems and methods remains operable. In certain implementations,multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous, as two or moresteps or actions may be conducted simultaneously.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: determining, by a processorof a client device, that the client device is displaying online digitalcontent that is scrollable to enable displaying of different portions ofthe online digital content; determining, by the processor of the clientdevice, a likelihood of activity triggering presentation of videocontent by a video player on the client device, wherein the determiningthe likelihood comprises predicting a time when the video content willbe displayed in one of the different portions of the online digitalcontent; and determining, by the processor of the client device, thatthe likelihood exceeds a threshold and, based thereon, performing thefollowing steps before the activity triggers the presentation of thevideo content by the video player: obtaining, by the processor of theclient device, a copy of the video content comprising a digital videoportion and an initial portion that precedes the digital video portion;initiating, by the processor of the client device, the video player ofthe client device; determining, by the processor of the client device, astart location in the video content where the initial portion ends andthe digital video portion begins; and configuring, by the processor ofthe client device, the video player to begin playing the video contentfrom the start location when the activity triggers the presentation ofthe video content.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the online digitalcontent comprises a web page, and wherein the predicting the time isbased on a velocity associated the scrolling and based on a distanceassociated with the different portions of the web page.
 3. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the likelihood is determined based on a viewing historyof a user, a viewing history of other users, or an Internet browserhistory.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the activity comprisesreceiving a selection of a link.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein theconfiguring the video player comprises storing a current state of thevideo player.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining thelikelihood comprises comparing the time when the video content will bedisplayed with an expected duration of an Internet session.
 7. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising storing, by processor of theclient device, at least the digital video portion on the client devicebefore the activity triggers the presentation of the video content bythe video player.
 8. The method of claim 1, further comprisingstitching, processor of the client device, the digital video portiontogether with a second digital video portion before the activitytriggers the presentation of the video content by the video player. 9.The method of claim 1, further comprising generating, processor of theclient device, a notification that the video player has been paused atthe start location.
 10. A device comprising: a processing systemincluding a processor; a display; and a memory that stores executableinstructions that, when executed by the processing system, facilitateperformance of operations, the operations comprising: determining thatthe display is displaying online digital content that is scrollable toenable displaying of different portions of the online digital content;determining a likelihood of activity triggering presentation of videocontent by a video player on the display, wherein the determining thelikelihood comprises predicting a time when the video content will bedisplayed in one of the different portions of the online digitalcontent; and determining that the likelihood exceeds a threshold and,based thereon, performing the following steps before the activitytriggers the presentation of the video content by the video player:obtaining a copy of the video content comprising a digital video portionand an initial portion that precedes the digital video portion;initiating the video player of the device; determining a start locationin the video content where the initial portion ends and the digitalvideo portion begins; and configuring the video player to begin playingthe video content from the start location when the activity triggers thepresentation of the video content.
 11. The device of claim 10, whereinthe online digital content comprises a web page, and wherein thepredicting the time is based on a velocity associated with scrolling andbased on a distance associated with the different portions of the webpage.
 12. The device of claim 10, wherein the likelihood is determinedbased on a viewing history of a user, a viewing history of other users,or an Internet browser history.
 13. The device of claim 10, wherein theactivity comprises receiving a selection of a link.
 14. The device ofclaim 10, wherein the configuring the video player comprises storing acurrent state of the video player.
 15. The device of claim 10, whereinthe determining the likelihood comprises comparing the time when thevideo content will be displayed with an expected duration of an Internetsession.
 16. The device of claim 10, the operations further comprisingstoring, by processor of the device, at least the digital video portionon the device before the activity triggers the presentation of the videocontent by the video player.
 17. The device of claim 10, the operationsfurther comprising stitching, processor of the device, the digital videoportion together with a second digital video portion before the activitytriggers the presentation of the video content by the video player. 18.The device of claim 10, the operations further comprising generating,processor of the device, a notification that the video player has beenpaused at the start location.
 19. A non-transitory machine-readablemedium, comprising executable instructions that, when executed by aprocessing system of a client device and including a processor,facilitate performance of operations, the operations comprising:determining that the display is displaying online digital content thatis scrollable to enable displaying of different portions of the onlinedigital content; determining a likelihood of activity triggeringpresentation of video content by a video player on the display, whereinthe determining the likelihood comprises predicting a time when thevideo content will be displayed in one of the different portions of theonline digital content; and determining that the likelihood exceeds athreshold and, based thereon, performing the following steps before theactivity triggers the presentation of the video content by the videoplayer: obtaining a copy of the video content comprising a digital videoportion and an initial portion that precedes the digital video portion;initiating the video player of the device; determining a start locationin the video content where the initial portion ends and the digitalvideo portion begins; and configuring the video player to begin playingthe video content from the start location when the activity triggers thepresentation of the video content.
 20. The non-transitorymachine-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the online digital contentcomprises a web page, and wherein the predicting the time is based on avelocity associated with scrolling and based on a distance associatedwith the different portions of the web page.